About the only thing New Zealand is more socialist on than Australia is foreign policy. On everything else, the Aussies are far more to the left. In fact Aussies just seem to accept every stupid law and regulation the government throws at them. Ban firecrackers? Why thats a good idea, some kid might lose a finger. Regulate what clothes cab drivers wear? Well, we can't trust the blokes to choose what is appropriate themselves. $18/hr minimum wage? Mandatory voting? The list goes on and on.
I thought we had it bad here in Canada until I visited Australia.
Agreed:
New Zealand's economic policy is about the most neoclassical monetarist one can get. Industry and agriculture, especially agriculture, receive no subsidies from the government and New Zealand has very low tariffs, which it is rapidly phasing out. Its government is reasonably small and is, I would wager, very efficient by American standards. Its foreign policy is definitely left-wing, but this has more to do with New Zealand's isolation and not wanting to be pushed around, than it has to do with political ideology. Kiwis are very pragmatic. Its social policy is socialist in a number of ways - but its also very libertarian - the country has legalized prostitution - and there's nothing socialist in that.